75 Resources for Writing Incredible Copy that Converts

Writing great copy is one of the most useful skills a marketer can develop. After all, copy is a key element of successful internet marketing across the board, from emails with sky-high open rates to blog posts that get shared hundreds or even thousands of times.

Masterful copywriting plays a big part in the difference between a website that converts like crazy and one that simply falls flat, failing to engage potential customers. Case in point: in Conversion Rate Expert’s redesign of the Crazy Egg website, copy had a big role in growing the site’s conversion rate by 363%.

This resource guide provides links that will give you a strong foundation for writing great web copy. In order to write effective web copy, it’s necessary to understand the principles of copywriting as a discipline. So, this guide includes resources that are not specific to online copywriting, but, nonetheless, will help you build a strong arsenal of copywriting skills you can take to the web.

E-books, Articles, Infographics, and Guides to Get You Started with Web Copywriting

1. Copywriting 101 by Copyblogger – This 10-lesson e-book will teach you the fundamentals of how to excel at direct-response copywriting, which is, as Copyblogger tell us, one of the most essential elements of effective online marketing.

2. Copyblogger’s Copywriting Library – Did you like Copyblogger’s Copywriting 101 e-book above? You can find more free material in the copywriting section of their Marketing Library. These e-books will show you how to use great copy in your content marketing, email marketing, landing pages, and more.

3. The Definitive Guide to Copywriting – This 30,000-plus-word guide from Quick Sprout teaches you how to optimize your copy to increase website conversions. It leads you from gathering the information necessary to write great copy all the way to understanding how copy and design complement each other on your webpage.

9. Copywriting Cheat Sheet [Infographic] – Using the same tone, style, and length won’t cut it when you’re writing copy for various online platforms. Learn how writing web copy differs from copywriting for social media and from email marketing.

10. How People Read Online [Infographic] – Understand how people read online. For example, “Eye-tracking studies have shown that when looking at text-based webpages, the eye gaze commonly follows an F-shaped pattern and that users spend 80% of their time looking at content above the fold.”

11. Grammar Girl – Now that you’re writing all that copy, you might need to brush up on your grammar. Grammar Girl provides short, friendly tips to improve your writing.

Must-Read Books on Direct Response Marketing and Copywriting

12. Tested Advertising Methods – A classic book on how to write effective copy, from the headline formulas that really work to the secrets behind ad copy that sells.

13. Scientific Advertising – A quick read by advertising legend Claude Hopkins that will bring you up to speed on the psychology behind great advertising; namely, why certain types of advertising work while others don’t.

17. Breakthrough Advertising – Dense and quite expensive, this classic is best for those who already have read the books listed above and are looking for a way to dig even deeper into how to write effective copy.

Copywriting Courses

18. Copy Hackers – Copy Hackers has a special place in my heart because the Starter Bundle is the first copywriting course I ever purchased. Technically, it’s a set of e-books rather than a course, but once you’ve finished going through the set, you’ll feel like you’ve just been through copywriting bootcamp. What makes the Copy Hackers e-books so effective is that they are jam-packed with exercises you can apply to your website immediately.

19. Conversion Copywriting Course – If the quality of the Copy Hackers’ e-books is anything to go by, you probably can’t go wrong with this 10-week program on conversion copywriting.

20. Fired Up & Focused Bootcamp – This Copy Hackers bootcamp challenges you to block off one hour a day for 20 days to tweak your site and emails with the help of video lessons from copywriting experts.

21. Accelerated Program for Six-Figure Copywriting – If the sales page is any indication of the kind of copy you’ll be able to write after finishing this course, then signing up should be a no-brainer. The program teaches you how to write direct-response promotional letters, but the skills you’ll learn can be applied to web copywriting, especially long-form landing pages.

22. Copy Hour – Copy Hour challenges you to spend one hour a day hand-copying high-converting headlines, letters, web copy, and advertisements written by top marketers and copywriters. This is an excellent way to take your copywriting skills to the next level fast, but only do it if you are sure you can make the time for it on a daily basis.

23. Kopywriting Kourse – Learn the basic tenets of great copywriting, from how to form an effective email for a sales prospect to the no-fail process for creating content that converts.

The Best Websites and Blogs about Copywriting

25. CopyBlogger – The hands-down best place to get high-quality free information on copywriting and creating great online content.

26. The Gary Halbert Letter – This just might be, as copywriting legend Halbert states on the homepage, the most valuable website on the entire internet. Here you’ll find digital versions of the letters Halbert sent to subscribers about how to master copywriting. Not sure where to start? Check out Ryan MacGrath’s top five issues of The Gary Halbert Letter.

27. The Rant – The official blog of the legendary copywriter John Carlton. Here are all of his posts tagged as “copywriting.”

38. Emotional Marketing Value Headline Analyzer – Ready to have some fun with all that copy you’ve been writing? This free tool determines the emotional marketing value of your headline and compares your score to the industry average.

42. How to Write Headlines That Work – Brian Clark himself lays out the eight headline categories that have proven to work time and again in one of the most popular Copyblogger posts ever.

43. 10 bitchin’ tips for writing irresistible headlines – Headlines that get attention, like the ones in this article, are almost impossible to ignore. Discover ten ways to write better headlines for the web. (For example, did you know that one expert says the ideal length for headlines on the internet is 65 characters?)

47. How To Make That One Thing Go Viral. Just Kidding! – The staff over at Upworthy is known for creating insanely viral content. What is their secret recipe? Amazing headlines are no small part. Skip to page 24 to learn about how they write their headlines, although I recommend giving the whole thing a read. It’s packed with useful insights for content marketing.

How to Write E-commerce Copy that Sells

62. E-Commerce Copywriting: The Guide to Selling More – Most online retailers rely on manufacturer’s descriptions to sell their products, yet high-quality product descriptions have been shown to increase conversions by as much as 100%. Learn the basics of writing copy that sells your products.

73. How to write copy that converts [Video] – Learn how Joanna Wiebe made a few tweaks in the website of an addiction treatment facility…and got them a 26% increase in conversions as well as a waiting list. (Note: you’ll need a Mixergy membership to view the video.)

Whew! These 75 resources should be enough to get you started on your way to becoming a web copy samurai. Are there any other resources that you think should be on this list? If so, please share them in the comments below.

About the Author: Chloe Mason Gray specializes in digital marketing strategies for startups and medium-size tech companies. She currently leads the marketing team at the Big Data company Ondore. Be sure to say hi to her on Twitter. You also can follow her on Google+.

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Wow, great information and resources! Yea, I have been in marketing for 20 years and still learning how to write well. It is really amazing that, clean and concise content development is such an integral part of website design and development, direct and email marketing and just basic business “story telling.”

Wow! I’m a national award-winning copywriter (3rd prize in Dan Kennedy’s National Salesletter Contest), and thought I was aware of every copywriting resource on the planet. But there are some real gems here that I overlooked!

The only thing I’d add would be that you need two things for great copy: Terrific psychology (your resources have that in spades), and tight copy — copy that’s written WELL. By that, I mean it’s concise, in active voice, uses strong verbs, plain English, etc. Great psychology written poorly won’t fly.

Surely there are 1-3 parts for EACH subheading that newbies/experienced people need to learn copywriting/become good at it to market their services.

Can you please provide summaries for us newbies? I want to learn copywriting but every website just points me “go there” with a massive list. I feel guilty unless I do ALL of them. Classic paralysis by analysis.